Assesses short term effects of the Gulf war on 100 Israeli ischemic heart disease patients of different ethnic origin. Three dimensions of patients' reactions to the war situation were studied: psychological, physical, and behavioral. Results of intrapersonal comparisons showed that the intensity of responses, as expected, increased significantly on the 3 dimensions from the week before the war started to the 1st week of the war. During the last week of the war, when stress declined, worries were significantly reduced, but no significant reduction in frequency of anginal pain and in drug consumption followed, indicating differences in the adjustment process on the psychologic and physical levels. Patients of Asian or North African countries of origin reported having more frequent anginal pains, and consuming more drugs than patients from Western countries. The severity of these aversive responses varies among the different ethnic groups, probably due to cultural differences in learned coping patterns.